Photo Prompt Writing Challenge Drabbles
by Alby Mangroves
Summary: Canon and AU drabbles written for the Photo Prompt Writing Challenge blog.
1. Lurking

The 100 word drabbles in this story are all from the **Photo Prompt Writing Challenge**, a blog I contribute to weekly.

Several writers contribute, including Burntcore, Jessypt, 107 Yr Old Virgin, Miss Beckie Louise, Destynee, Kekah J, Muse Calliope, Kimmydon and Bronwyn. Some of these guys write Twific, some write original fiction, and their pieces vary in size so they're not all drabbles. I just really like them!

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title: <strong>Lurking

**Prompt: **Private beach in summer

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><p>Time stands still in this haven, for some more than others.<p>

The gentlest reminder that the day is getting older rolls across the sky in fluffy white tufts.

Offshore, lying motionless under crystal clear water, he waits.

He could easily stroll among the vacationers and dispatch them one by one without fuss, but where's the fun in that?

Later, he'll climb aboard their boat, seduce the woman with his glittering smile and bottomless eyes, fuck her into oblivion as he drinks down her life, then vanish overboard with her bloodless corpse.

Calm beneath the sea, he watches the clouds glide.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	2. Reflection

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title: <strong>Reflection

**Prompt:** The Sol Duc in autumn

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><p>Sometimes, on days like this, even a woman with no past can become wistful.<p>

The dividing line between the reality of the vibrant fall landscape and its watery doppelganger becomes insubstantial on such days.

The Sol Duc is as far removed from Biloxi as can be, but Alice can't help wondering if she might have seen a sight like this with her natural-born eyes.

Would it have been more moving, or less?

Beside her, Jasper gives her a pulse of sympathy and his hand to hold.

He doesn't remember what it was like to see with those old eyes, either.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	3. Curiosity Killed the Redhead

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title: Curiosity Killed the Redhead<strong>

**Prompt:** Fog over a forest manor house

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><p>The fog is like thin, watery soup, beading on the fur trim of her riding coat.<p>

European winters are so romantic, so melancholy. It's quite easy to imagine that the local legends are rooted in truth, and that out there, somewhere, creatures older than time roam unchecked.

Adjusting her gloves, Victoria mounts her horse sidesaddle, as befits a lady.

"I wish to tour the property alone," she informs her valet. "Please tell Mother I'll return before supper."

"It's not safe, milady!"

_I do hope you're right_, she thinks, hungry for adventure, starved for fun.

She rides to her frozen fate.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	4. Jaded

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> Jaded

**Prompt:** Looking up at a ferris wheel

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><p>I want to climb the metal girders.<p>

I want it to take forever.

I want to carefully judge distances between steel rungs, putting my feet and hands in the right places.

I want the adrenaline to whip my nerves into a frenzied rush.

I want my stomach to drop when I look down and almost fall.

But... these things are impossible.

I can climb, but it will be over in an instant, my vampire body precise and swift.

The only thing coursing through my veins will be the venom that drives me.

If I fall, I'll hurt the earth.

Damn.

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><p><strong>AN:** I didn't have anyone specific in mind for this one, just a jaded vamp wishing he could still get a thrill out of life.


	5. Purple

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> Purple

**Prompt:** Lying in a meadow of purple flowers

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><p>This is the way I envisaged it.<p>

I thought I could lie among the purple and sink into the warm blanket of memories.

I imagined closeness to you was only as far as the reach of my hand.

I expected it to be as clear as though it happened yesterday, fresh as the smell of spring bulbs opening on a frosty morning.

I close my eyes and whisper, "I love you, Edward."

Instead of the golden sun reflected in your endless eyes and the purple blanket of flowers under our bodies, I see the crimson red of my death approaching.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	6. Messy

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> Messy

**Prompt:** Dripping nails

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><p>Bella needs practice.<p>

It's not as easy as it looks to hold something so fragile without sinking fingers into flesh as though it's nothing but soft dough.

As she draws the remaining blood from her kill, Bella relaxes her stranglehold just shy of crushing its ribcage and lowers the carcass to the ground where it sprawls limply.

Carefully, she withdraws her hands from under the doe's skin, feeling terrible for causing the poor animal more pain than necessary.

Her fingers drip with its blood, globules of it already drying, blackening around her short nails.

_Next time, I'll be more careful._

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	7. The Pyre

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> The Pyre

**Prompt:** Book of burning matches

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><p>James never thought it would end like this, rent to pieces by yellow-eyed freaks.<p>

Separation of limbs is pure agony, but the most excruciating thing is the indignation.

_This cannot be happening!_

Even as his insides flare and catch like firecrackers, his foremost thoughts are of surprise.

In the cavity of his chest, venom bursts into sickly purple flame, incinerating him from inside out, but still all he can feel is incredulity.

Pieces of his invincible body form his own funeral pyre, but he can only gasp in shock.

Somehow, the freaks have bested him.

Screaming, he becomes ash.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	8. Seeing Stars

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> Seeing Stars

**Prompt:** Constallation of stars

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><p>Shivering, Bella observes Edward's fingers walking across her pebbled skin, traversing the distance from shoulder to shoulder.<p>

Along the way, the collarbone ridge and the dip of suprasternal notch form no obstacle to the cold, firm pads of his fingers.

"Did you know that you have tiny freckles here?" he muses quietly, the deliberate finger-steps easing into soft sweeps of her throat.

A lazy smile widens her mouth. "I do?"

Edward lowers his face to her chest and kisses lightly, following the cold trail his fingers left only moments ago.

"Mmhm," he murmurs, "A constellation of stars. You are heaven."

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading. I have an entry or two in the Truly Anon Contest. There are 97 stories to choose from in the contest archive.

No matter what your preference, you should be able to find something worth reading among so many stories!

http : / ficcontest . info / (remove all spaces)

Best of luck to all the entrants. Voting takes place March 8th - 15th.


	9. If Wishes Were Fishes

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> If Wishes Were Fishes

**Prompt:** Woman lying on a reflection of the sky in a puddle / A jar of glitter "Wishes"

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><p>Sometimes it's really difficult coming to terms with it.<p>

This thing, this new existence, it hangs above me like a guillotine.

I've screamed myself hoarse at the unfairness of it, wishing my eyes still produced tears.

My misery feels hollow without them.

Sometimes I rage, wishing I could kill Royce again and again.

But, there are times when I'm calm. Accepting.

I can't change what I am.

No amount of wishing will soften this stone body back into a human one.

If Carlisle hadn't 'saved' me, would I float among the clouds?

Mother always said I looked like an angel.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	10. Can't Fight the Tide

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> Can't Fight the Tide

**Prompt:** Woman sitting on a pier

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><p>Sam says he can't change it, and I believe him.<p>

I know it deep in my bones.

The moment he looked at me, the moment we met, I knew.

Doesn't make it any easier.

For him, it's simple: nothing is stronger than this bond, so he does what he must. He follows the moon like the tides, and I'm the moon, he says.

I think of Leah every single day, and wonder if she'll ever forgive us, the moon and the tide sweeping her aside.

For me, the price of guilt is as clear as the scars on my face.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	11. Underneath

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> Underneath

**Prompt:** Christmas lights in a jar, 19th Feb 2012

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><p>Winter chill creeps like icy fingers through floorboards in Bella's room.<p>

She doesn't mind the cold; it's familiar.

Charlie's valiant attempt at putting on a modest Christmas is wasted on her, but Bella goes along with the tree and the food, even checking ropes of Christmas lights.

Somewhere along the line, a faulty bulb stops all the others from glowing.

Bella knows how it feels.

Sometimes you've got no glow left in you.

Below her knees, September's echo lies undiscovered, sandwiched in a narrow wooden tomb under the floorboards.

Love lies hidden, trapped in purgatory just like the ghost himself.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading. This is the last of the catch-up posts, so from now on, updates will be weekly, probably on a Sunday. Cheers!


	12. Sunrise

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title: <strong>Sunrise

**Prompt:** Sun over the mountains

Thanks to LJ Summers for the Beta service.

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><p>There are times when Emmett thinks he might as well be looking out his own momma's kitchen window.<p>

Them mountains sure do look misty, but they ain't the Smokies, no sir.

He could go back home anytime, but it wouldn't be the same.

It ain't the place that's changed; it's him.

His eyes wouldn't see it the same no more, and he doesn't want to happen among kin if the thirst proves stronger than he is.

Emmett doesn't dwell on past mistakes, but he's a realist, too.

The thirst always wins.

Breaking into a run, he fools it with speed.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading. Did I mention I have an entry or two in the Truly Anon Contest? I'm having an awesome time reading through the 97 submissions. It's insane! There are some goodies in there.

Also, there is another contest you might be interested in keeping an eye on, it's the Tales From the Void contest. http : / twiscificontest . blogspot . com . au/ - You should totally write for this. Go on, I know you want to!


	13. The Pull

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title: <strong>The Pull

**Prompts:** Woman with tattooed chest / cupcakes with icing butterflies

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><p>Heidi's herded fish are convenient, but nothing beats the hunt, and adrenalin-laced blood pulsing to a frenzied heartbeat.<p>

Under the ultraviolet strobes of the dance club, Demetri sees what he wants.

The graceful ribbons of her veins light up like iridescent tattoos over her throat and chest.

Even when he closes his eyes, he senses their hypnotic rhythm.

He imagines slicing through delicate flesh and sucking one of those pulsing ribbons into his mouth, specks of blood settling on his skin, like the dust from a butterfly's wings.

He catches her eye, smiles, and she is snared in his web.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading. Are you writing for the Tales From the Void contest? Hope so, can't wait to read the entries! http : / twiscificontest . blogspot . com . au/


	14. Once and Future Gift

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title: Once and Future Gift<strong>

**Prompts:** Ancient bridge / Old Locket

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><p>.<p>

"It's lovely," the shopkeeper muses. He handles the little round locket carefully, scrutinizing it under the loupe.

"I found it down by the old bridge," replies the boy, all expectant eyes. "Is it worth anything?"

Buffing the tarnished gold, exposing the delicate vine filigree embossed on its surface, the shopkeeper smiles, the boy's enthusiasm infectious. "How about fifty dollars?"

_Easy money for a scavenged trinket_, thinks the boy, his face lighting up. "Awesome!"

Later, the shopkeeper examines his acquisition, gently lifting it open.

"_Plus que ma propre vie..._" he reads, knowing someone once cherished those words, and someone will again.

.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading! I figure the locket Bella bought for her daughter had to have a previous life :)

**Sci-Fi Contest** entries have started to come in! http : / twiscificontest . blogspot . com . au/


	15. Anticipation

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> Anticipation

**Prompts:** Couple kissing

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><p>.<p>

It's his eyes that give it away- the reason for Edward's sudden stillness.

Bella sees the intent in them, black and focused, and her stomach drops through the floor.

As Edward nears her, she stops breathing, too.

"I just want to try one thing," he murmurs.

Desperately wanting, she watches his mouth, the slightest grin hiding in the corner.

He can't fool her though; he trembles as she does, while their would-be kiss hangs in the air between them, thicker than velvet.

The whisper of Edward's mouth on hers is so soft, the barest glance, but she comes alive inside.

.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading!

Mostly a Lurker and I wrote the winning Truly Anon Contest oneshot: **Fácilis Descensus Averni**. Thanks to readers, judges and voters!

Read it here: http :/ www . fanfiction . net /s/7948903/1/Facilis_Descensus_Averni


	16. Sojourn to the Sphinx, August 1798

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> Sojourn to the Sphinx, August 1798

**Prompts:** Map of the world and a pair of shoes

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><p>.<p>

Under the bright Giza moon, Tanya's vampire skin glistens like antique relics.

Strolling along the base of Khufu's great tomb, she digs her toes into the still-warm desert sands and draws in the ancient breath of Egypt's dead kings.

The French are camped nearby—Bonaparte's army, victorious in a great battle days ago—and the stench of rotting flesh sits heavily on the breeze, though the bodies lie interred under shifting sands.

Avoiding drunken sentries, Tanya creeps in the dead of night to visit an old friend, _Hor-em-akhet_, the serene limestone sentinel even older than she, but not nearly as well preserved.

.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	17. The Raven

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> The Raven

**Prompts:** Jigsaw puzzle

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><p>.<p>

_Blah, blah, blah..._

All their earnest words are no better than beetles heaped upon a carcass.

They shield rotten, stinking truth under their crawling swarms, but Aro sees through them, right to the grisly bones.

Little pawns rush to prostrate themselves while he stands immobile like an ancient obelisk. He collects their obeisance beneath black wings, presenting his talons for their adoration.

Gleeful in his mania, he observes yet another piece of the puzzle enter the stage.

"Don't be disturbed, I mean her no harm," he croons at Edward, but it's Bella, that sweet, blank slate, who has his attention.

.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	18. Namaste

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> Namaste

**Prompts:** "Namaste" plaque

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><p>.<p>

The moment Edward realizes his child isn't a monster comes quietly. It does not level or shock him.

He simply knows it as though he's always known it; as though his soul has always known it.

Bending to sleeping Bella's stomach, he listens intently, anxious to catch every whisper of thought emanating from within.

He hears hope, and love, and a beating pulse, and it's almost enough to shake the dust of ages from his own stone heart.

Laying his lips on his wife's skin, he murmurs his obeisance, "I honor the place within you where the entire universe resides."

.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	19. Alone in a Crowd

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> Alone in a Crowd

**Prompts: **1940's - Ladies at Railway Station

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><p>.<p>

There are throngs of people at the railway station, so many Esme doesn't know where to look.

How much time did she buy herself with her story? Is Charles here already, looking for her in the crowd, violence in his eyes?

She pushes down hysteria, shaking hands balled into fists at her side.

The air is stale with so many folks all crammed into one place, and Esme breathes shallowly through her handkerchief, trying to stave off nausea.

Afternoon sunshine settles warmly on her skin, but Esme can't shake the clammy feeling that wherever she runs, it is into darkness.  
>.<p>

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	20. I Shall Come For You At Night Time

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> I Shall Come For You At Night Time

**Prompts: Woman looking at faraway figure / Woman alone in a snow scape**

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><p>.<p>

Death whispers with cold lips against her throat, and Mary Alice stiffens into trance.

The creeping dream comes at her softly, nibbling at her feet like darkness, and she falls in without so much as a ripple.

_...from beyond the veil, eyes red as hearts will recognize her, and envelop her with fierce love..._

_...he will take her hand and run beside her from the bowels of Hades, and together, they will _see_ and _feel_ everything..._

And she will die for this. She will walk alone in winter to find this love.

Waking, Alice embraces the inferno in her veins.

.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


	21. A Quiet Man

If you'd like to check out the blog and see the photo prompts as well as reading some great short stories, or if you're interested in contributing, visit us here:

**http : / picprompt . blogspot . com . au/**

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><p><strong>Title:<strong> A Quiet Man

**Prompts:** hands shaped like hearts

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><p>.<p>

There are days when Charlie hardly rubs two words together. The job is his life; it keeps him busy and needed—things he craves—but even a quiet man can yearn for some comfort.

He remembers the fiery love shared with Renee with nostalgic fondness for their youth, and he misses Bella something fierce, her serious, faraway eyes, her quiet presence.

Sue, though, she's different.

He loves her gentle affection sweeping over him like a mild sea, smoothing rocks into pebbles.

Her hands are like an embrace around Charlie's heart, steadfastly warm and golden brown. In those loyal hands, he finds himself.

.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading.


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